Web sites have become as essential to business as fingers are to typing. The beauty of web sites is they are ever changing with the newest technologies. The curse of web sites is…they are ever changing… and what was good yesterday is quickly outdated. I have had the privilege of working at my career in marketing prior to web sites and I have been a part of their growth, especially in the past 15-20 years as they have gone from glorified brochures to robust marketing tools that are the heartbeat of business.

Web sites do the job of many other traditional marketing mediums. They carry the first look message of your business to potential customers, much like a sign hanging outside your business lets people know what you do at a glance. They offer information about your products and services, much like sales brochures. They give pertinent contact info on making a connection with a person at your company, much like a phone book listing. They are these things and so much more, especially when you are using your web site as a marketing tool.

What are the basics of web design as a marketing tool? First and foremost, you have to be found. You can have the most technologically advanced and beautifully designed web site in the world, but if no one can find it, you are not going to have any marketing impact. Much has been made about SEO, using the correct keywords in the phraseology that search engines will take note of. All of that has turned a corner to the new search engine supercharger – engagement. In other words, the more active you are in posting new content, the more search engines will take note of you and impact your listing. So I would build a web site with engagement in mind. For many, that has taken the shape of a blog. If you like to write and have a story to tell, blogs are great. As a marketing professional, I will tell you that a blog that is devoid of good information, or has not been updated in a very long time, is worse than not having one at all. And the search engines are getting wise to empty content. Unless you are getting a good response to your posted stories, your blog will do you little good. If your business would be better served telling the stories of the work you are doing with clients, other engagement strategies might work better for you. A page on your web site that tells how you helped solve a problem for a customer, shows photos, or adds testimonials from satisfied customers might work better for you. We use case studies, videos, or photos with captions. This sort of thing is custom made to connect with social media, which also will exponentially help your engagement. Here is my suggestion: find out from your customers what they want to see from you and turn into content on your web site. Figure out how you will get this information into the hands of your customers and you will have engagement.

Another thing to remember in effective web site marketing is whittling down all the things you could say to the pertinent information. Web sites are made to find information quickly, not read through all of the reference section of a library to find it. We all have searched a web site that has a bit of info that is buried in miles of text. Get to the pertinent info and leave the rest to your sales team. What is the pertinent information?

· What is the name of the business?

· Where are you located? (May or may not be important)

· What do you produce?

· What is your unique selling proposition? In other words, why should I buy from you?

· Who should I talk to if I want more information?

· How do I get in touch with them?

Your web site should answer all of these questions with a simple click. Pertinent information does not need to answer every question someone might ask of you. It should give enough information to help the viewer clearly understand who you are, what you sell and how to get in touch with you. Those are the basics. Beyond that, there may be more information that would be helpful. Just make sure you are measuring how often these extra pages are being sought out. Our customers are often surprised to find the pages of their web site which they think are most important are not looked at often.

Another point to remember in building a good web site is the format in which it will be viewed. This is one of the biggest changes that I have seen in my experience. Different browsers become popular and then fade from the scene. Opera has pretty much disappeared from usage. Google Chrome is the new leader with somewhere around 35% of users. Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox are still popular, with around 15-17% usage for each of them – not the behemoths they once were, but still need to be accounted for in your web programming. Make sure your web site works on these browsers. But beyond browsers, make sure your web site works on traditional desktop and laptop computers as well as mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. Right now there is a lapse in technology and programming for these devices. Many web sites have a regular site and a mobile site. The bottom line is, your web site has to work on both formats.

The last thing I am going to emphasize is the way the web site looks. I mention it last because it is often the first thing a client wants to talk about. It is very important, but in my experience, it is good to figure out the functionality of the site before you dress it up. That's not to underestimate what a good design will do for you in terms of marketing. A good graphic design will do wonders for your web site, especially your home page. We make split second decisions about companies and their brands based on the "look” of their web sites. We decide they are innovative or backwards, hip or out of step, cutting edge or holding on to the past. That all happens at a glance. We all buy in this manner. (Take a look at my article Split second marketing). Your home page needs to catch the attention of the viewer... and that can change quickly. What looks good today can soon become out of vogue in web site design. The market is fickle that way. In web design there is a push and pull cycle between the people who program sites and those that design them. The programmers always think less design is more and the designers think the programmers should stick to programming. Right now, the trend is to strip out a lot of design because the new mobile devices are having a hard time loading a lot of content quickly. My suggestion is to sit down with a graphic designer and talk about what is trending in web design. Look at other sites together. Every couple of years you need to evaluate this to see if you need a change. Often times that can simply be updating your home page. This is critical to your success.

Web sites are essential to the successful marketing of your business. There are many more intricacies to web design, but the basics are critical to any business who wants people to catch their marketing message. Keep them in mind when you build your web site.